LAHORE: The Punjab government on Friday assured the Lahore High Court that all detained workers of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) would be released forthwith.

This undertaking was given by an additional home secretary, Wajahat Hamdani, during hearing of five identical petitions challenging detention of PAT workers in the province.

Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan declared detention of the workers illegal and was going to order immediate release of the workers when the additional home secretary requested him not to pass a judicial order to this effect.

He undertook that the government would release all detained workers unconditionally and immediately.

During the course of hearing, the secretary defended the detentions saying the PAT workers were involved in anti-state activities.

However, Justice Khan rejected the argument and observed that the government should have detained the party leader if the workers were involved in illegal activities. The judge said it was always easy for the police to put poor people behind the bars and nobody would imagine the pain of a detainee’s family. He also came hard on Punjab bureaucracy and regretted that at least 10 staff officers accompanied one bureaucrat even before the courts.

Justice Khan disposed of the petitions in the light of the undertaking of the government and also directed the secretary to submit a compliance report.

Advocate Ishtiaq Chaudhry appeared on behalf of the PAT and argued that the government was victimising party workers on political grounds. He said the government detained at least 72 workers of the party and was not producing them before any court of law. He asked the court to set aside their detention and order the government to release them.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2014